The Unspoken Fears of Being an NFL Draft Prospect

For many, playing professional football is the culmination of a lifetime's worth of hard work and dedication. As such, draft day for these NFL hopefuls represents perhaps the most pivotal moment in their young and promising lives.

However, if it's true that a man who has nothing to lose has nothing to fear, then an NFL draft pick suddenly just got a million new reasons to be afraid.

In this league, a healthy dose of fear will keep you safe—if you can manage it properly and use it to your benefit. Obviously, if this fear is allowed to run rampant it can devour you from the inside out and paralyze your potential, but make no mistake: Fear permeates the thoughts of every NFL draft prospect from the first pick to the last. We just never hear about that end of the emotional spectrum.

With the 2015 NFL draft just days away, the lives of hundreds of young athletes are about to implode.

A new city, a new team, a new career and the challenge of a lifetime all loom on the horizon, shrouded in mystery and met with immense anticipation. The pressures and excitement of being drafted into the NFL are amplified by the rising expectations of greatness and the hopes of an entire family, school and community following the process.

After all, you've made it this far. Those who have doubted your resolve in the past have since bought in, hopped on board and are now riding the infectious momentum that comes with having a close connection to a potential NFL draft pick.

With years of training and conditioning, the mental makeup of an NFL draft pick is hardened and full of resolve—fully capable of holding up to the pressures that come with the gig.

Experience has given them a taste of success at every level of competition. So it is assumed that this developing life pattern is destined to repeat itself. Success at the next level? Inevitable.

Put a microphone in the face of any NFL draft prospect and you'll hear confidence, excitement and the expectations of a long, fruitful career. Self-confidence may be a critical ingredient to success, but around here, it comes a dime a dozen and rarely runs as deep as they'd like you to believe.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

It should be no surprise that bravado is the narrative for the unproven in a sport that epitomizes masculinity. Otherwise any sign of doubt or uncertainty from a player would likely lead to his own demise before he ever got started. Just think about how we men get with asking for directions while driving.

However, underneath that confident, unflappable exterior lies a fragile human being with no idea what to expect and faced with incredible pressure.

After the NFL draft, life will never be the same, for better or for worse.

Anyone who claims to be completely absent of fear in the face of such an opportunity is either being dishonest or is already doomed.

Fear is a powerful motivator and an essential ingredient to being properly prepared. Fear is also at the heart of self-preservation, a trait that often has an unwarranted negative association.

Tim Umphrey/Associated Press

By the time draft day arrives and the family gathers around the TV to support their pride and joy, the hard work and preparation it took to get to this point pale in comparison to the unparalleled challenges that lie ahead.

In an interview with KCChiefs.com's Reid Ferrin, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson described what draft day felt like for him back in 2005 when the Chiefs made him the 15th overall selection that year:

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It was nerve-racking, knowing that your dream day had arrived. It's the opportunity that you've been waiting for, for a lifetime. To hear your name called and to sit there with your family and friends, it's really a lot going on and a lot going through your head. You think about everything like, "Who's going to draft you? Are you going to drop in the draft? Are you going early? What city are you going to be living in?"; those are the things that go through your mind, but at the end of the day, after your name is called, there's so much stress relief. Regardless of where you go in the draft, knowing that you have the opportunity of a lifetime is unforgettable.

"

Though the surrounding friends and family are there to provide support and cheer their draft hopeful on when his name finally runs across the screen, he's likely more concerned about whether his name will be called at all.

Should the prospect fall beyond his projected draft round, a new level of uncertainty is sure to set in. This moment introduces a new degree of fear and is just the beginning. At that point, every name heard following the trademark "pick is in" chime is like a tiny needle stabbing you in your side.

The emotional soup a prospect deals with at this point is complex. Anger, disappointment and determination are all a major part of that soup. But the unspoken ingredient in there is the fear.

Jokes and high spirits from the entourage are meant to be encouraging, but the sinking feeling of disappointment overwhelm as one team after another goes in another direction.

Matt York/Associated Press

For draft hopefuls who've experienced this, the wait to hear your name called can seem like an eternity. The unpredictable nature of the NFL draft unravels a once confident athlete. This plants a seed of doubt that, if watered, will blossom into a full-fledged slump.

Seattle's star cornerback Richard Sherman waited until the fifth round before he received a call from Seahawks general manager John Schneider. He described the emotions he felt that day to Yahoo Sports' Michael Silver back in 2012:

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I celebrated 'cause my family was happy and the dream had been realized. I wasn't gonna ruin that moment for my family. But in the back of my mind, I was livid.

Some of those guys who got drafted [ahead of me], I was like, "Wow, this is ridiculous." I thought, 'What's the point of playing good ball if it doesn't matter?' By the time the fifth round rolled around, the damage was done.

"

Seeing all 32 teams pass you up again and again shifts a player's confident reality and causes him to step back and question his abilities. The effect it has on a player's psyche is profound and is nearly always overlooked or oversimplified as having a chip on your shoulder.

ADAM ROUNTREE/Associated Press

Of course, you'll never hear a player say anything to this effect at the time. He must project an inner strength, whether it's there or not.

It's about this time that you're emotionally drained and ready to have everyone leave you alone. Anything to take your mind off the draft becomes a temporary salvation.

When you finally hear your name called, should you be so lucky, relief is present but hardly the dominant emotion.

Suddenly, you know exactly where you're going to be for the unforeseeable future. Trying to visualize a new home, often in an unfamiliar city or state, is met with a blend of emotions. NFL players you grew up watching and admiring are instantaneously transformed into your peers. It makes you wonder—can I really compete with these guys?

Of course you hope you can, and we all know how that question is answered externally, but in your heart of hearts, you have no idea what to expect. Frankly, it scares the living crap out of you.

Imagine standing at the door of fame and fortune with everyone cheering you on and the only thing that stands in your way is the biggest, strongest, toughest and fastest men in the world looking to beat you to a pulp.

The violent nature and dangerous aspects of football have been well documented. Throughout the years, you witness countless examples of its brutality and can only keep your fingers crossed that it won't happen to you. You also know that the risks and potential damage only increase as you climb the ranks.

At this point, the pending challenges yet to come sink in, and the thought of failure or serious injury defining this journey's conclusion creates a state of pressure and anxiety that creeps into your thoughts daily.

Players eventually learn to cope with this new normal and find effective ways to tune it out or distract themselves. Like most things in life, dealing with this effectively is a process that works itself out incrementally. None of this can be fully understood during that moment when your name is called and everyone around you is jumping up and down as if the finish line has already been reached, your goals accomplished. Though understandable, the celebrations quickly feel a tad premature.

By Sunday, NFL fans will dissect and grade their favorite team's draft picks, but few will realize the inner battle each prospect will deal with as he attempts to become one of the rare and special few who reach the pinnacle of the sport and dominate it.

Ryan Riddle is a former NFL player who writes for Bleacher Report.